At the end of her best-selling memoir
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....

In the 10 years since its electrifying debut, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love has become a worldwide phenomenon, empowering millions of readers and listeners to set out on paths they never thought possible, in search of their own best selves. Here, in this candid and captivating collection, nearly 50 of those readers and listeners - people as diverse in their experiences as they are in age and background - share their stories. The journeys they recount are transformative - sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always deeply inspiring.

3 out of 5 stars

Basically Fan Mail with Sharing

By
Gillian
on
03-31-16

Big Magic

Creative Living Beyond Fear

By:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,222

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
12,681

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
12,610

Readers and listeners of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert's books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering.

5 out of 5 stars

You Don't Need Permission ~~~

By
Jacqueline
on
09-29-15

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)

By:
Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by:
Bernadette Dunne

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
16,512

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,431

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,475

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

4 out of 5 stars

Glad I Took the Trip

By
FanB14
on
04-08-13

The Elephant to Hollywood

By:
Michael Caine

Narrated by:
Michael Caine

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
604

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
475

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
470

Charming, engaging, and surprisingly forthright, Michael Caine gives us his insider's view of Hollywood and the story of his brilliant second act. When he was in his late 50s, Michael Caine believed his Hollywood career had come to an end. The scripts being sent his way were worse and worse. Salvation came in the unlikely form of his old friend Jack Nicholson, who convinced him to give acting one more shot. What followed was one of the most radical comebacks in film history.

5 out of 5 stars

Sir Michael is awesome

By
Robert
on
12-21-12

Long Walk to Freedom

The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

By:
Nelson Mandela

Narrated by:
Michael Boatman

Length: 27 hrs and 44 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,433

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,291

Story

5 out of 5 stars
1,284

Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world.

4 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly honest autobiography.

By
History
on
11-17-11

Committed

A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

By:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
1,842

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,153

Story

4 out of 5 stars
1,146

At the end of her best-selling memoir
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....

In the 10 years since its electrifying debut, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love has become a worldwide phenomenon, empowering millions of readers and listeners to set out on paths they never thought possible, in search of their own best selves. Here, in this candid and captivating collection, nearly 50 of those readers and listeners - people as diverse in their experiences as they are in age and background - share their stories. The journeys they recount are transformative - sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always deeply inspiring.

3 out of 5 stars

Basically Fan Mail with Sharing

By
Gillian
on
03-31-16

Big Magic

Creative Living Beyond Fear

By:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,222

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
12,681

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
12,610

Readers and listeners of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert's books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering.

5 out of 5 stars

You Don't Need Permission ~~~

By
Jacqueline
on
09-29-15

Wild

From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)

By:
Cheryl Strayed

Narrated by:
Bernadette Dunne

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
16,512

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,431

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,475

At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

4 out of 5 stars

Glad I Took the Trip

By
FanB14
on
04-08-13

The Elephant to Hollywood

By:
Michael Caine

Narrated by:
Michael Caine

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
604

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
475

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
470

Charming, engaging, and surprisingly forthright, Michael Caine gives us his insider's view of Hollywood and the story of his brilliant second act. When he was in his late 50s, Michael Caine believed his Hollywood career had come to an end. The scripts being sent his way were worse and worse. Salvation came in the unlikely form of his old friend Jack Nicholson, who convinced him to give acting one more shot. What followed was one of the most radical comebacks in film history.

5 out of 5 stars

Sir Michael is awesome

By
Robert
on
12-21-12

Long Walk to Freedom

The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

By:
Nelson Mandela

Narrated by:
Michael Boatman

Length: 27 hrs and 44 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,433

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,291

Story

5 out of 5 stars
1,284

Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world.

4 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly honest autobiography.

By
History
on
11-17-11

In Defense of Food

By:
Michael Pollan

Narrated by:
Scott Brick

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,600

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,700

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,693

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan's
In Defense of Food. Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by food industry marketers, nutritional scientists, and journalists-all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion.

5 out of 5 stars

Life and Death

By
James
on
06-03-10

Why Not Me?

By:
Mindy Kaling

Narrated by:
Mindy Kaling,
Greg Daniels,
B. J. Novak

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
12,077

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
10,646

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
10,574

In
Why Not Me? Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it's falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or, most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you're constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

3 out of 5 stars

sad to even be writing this review :(

By
Brandin
on
10-02-15

The Signature of All Things

A Novel

By:
Elizabeth Gilbert

Narrated by:
Juliet Stevenson

Length: 21 hrs and 44 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
4,091

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,726

Story

4 out of 5 stars
3,737

In
The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker - a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.

5 out of 5 stars

Don't miss this one

By
Molly-o
on
12-27-13

The Big Leap

By:
Gay Hendricks

Narrated by:
Gay Hendricks

Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,971

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,611

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,593

Most of us believe that we will finally feel satisfied and content with our lives when we get the good news we have been waiting for, find a healthy relationship, or achieve one of our personal goals. However, this rarely happens. Good fortune is often followed by negative emotions that overtake us and result in destructive behaviors.

4 out of 5 stars

Inspiring, useful, a little preachy but VERY good

By
Monica Raven
on
08-20-09

Stories I Only Tell My Friends

An Autobiography

By:
Rob Lowe

Narrated by:
Rob Lowe

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
7,182

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
6,190

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
6,155

A teen idol at 15, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at 20, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences. Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last 25 years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.

5 out of 5 stars

Great Book and Great Story

By
Natalie J. Belle MD
on
04-30-11

Under the Tuscan Sun

By:
Frances Mayes

Narrated by:
Frances Mayes

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Abridged

Overall

3 out of 5 stars
202

Performance

2.5 out of 5 stars
129

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
126

Frances Mayes - widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer - opens the door to a wondrous new world when she buys and restores an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside. In sensuous and evocative language, she brings the reader along as she discovers the beauty and simplicity of life in Italy. Also available: Bella Tuscany.

2 out of 5 stars

Under the Tuscan Sun

By
Alicia
on
09-19-03

Talking as Fast as I Can

From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)

By:
Lauren Graham

Narrated by:
Lauren Graham

Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
8,560

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
7,852

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
7,786

In her first work of nonfiction, the beloved star of
Gilmore Girls and
Parenthood recounts her experiences on
Gilmore Girls - the first
and second times - and shares stories about life, love, and working in Hollywood. This collection of essays is written in the intimate, hilarious, and down-to-earth voice that made her novel,
Someday, Someday, Maybe, a
New York Times best seller.

5 out of 5 stars

I AM CRYING!!

By
Rebecca
on
11-29-16

The Upside of Stress

Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It

By:
Kelly McGonigal

Narrated by:
Kelly McGonigal

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
542

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
478

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
475

More than 44 percent of Americans admit to losing sleep over stress. And while most of us do everything we can to reduce it, Stanford psychologist and best-selling author Kelly McGonigal, PhD, delivers a startling message:
Stress isn't bad. In
The Upside of Stress, McGonigal highlights new research indicating that stress can, in fact, make us stronger, smarter, and happier - if we learn how to embrace it.

5 out of 5 stars

im not usually one to say a book is "life changing

By
Mia Hermine
on
05-20-15

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

By:
Benjamin Alire Saenz

Narrated by:
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,125

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,930

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,929

Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship - the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

5 out of 5 stars

One of the best novels I've listened to in years.

By
Rain
on
10-27-13

The Best of Us

A Memoir

By:
Joyce Maynard

Narrated by:
Joyce Maynard

Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
78

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
67

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
68

In 2011, when she was in her late 50s, beloved author and journalist Joyce Maynard met the first true partner she had ever known. Jim wore a rakish hat over a good head of hair; he asked real questions and gave real answers; he loved to see Joyce shine, both in and out of the spotlight; and he didn't mind the mess she made in the kitchen. He was not the husband Joyce imagined, but he quickly became the partner she had always dreamed of. Then, just after their one-year wedding anniversary, her new husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

5 out of 5 stars

I love Joyce Maynard- I'm a longtime fan

By
Susan
on
11-06-17

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League

By:
Jeff Hobbs

Narrated by:
George Newbern

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,925

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,728

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,732

When author Jeff Hobbs arrived at Yale University, he became fast friends with the man who would be his college roommate for four years, Robert Peace. Robert's life was rough from the beginning in the crime-ridden streets of Newark in the 1980s, with his father in jail and his mother earning less than $15,000 a year. But Robert was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier when he was accepted to Yale, where he studied molecular biochemistry and biophysics.

5 out of 5 stars

Everyone Should Read this Book

By
oldmanwagner
on
12-02-14

The Bassoon King

My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy

By:
Rainn Wilson

Narrated by:
Rainn Wilson

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,413

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
1,306

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,305

For nine seasons Rainn Wilson played Dwight Schrute, everyone's favorite work nemesis and beet farmer. Viewers of
The Office fell in love with the character and grew to love the actor who played him even more. Rainn founded a website and media company, SoulPancake, that eventually became a best-selling book of the same name. He also started a hilarious Twitter feed (sample tweet: "I'm not on Facebook" is the new "I don't even own a TV") that now has more than four million followers.

4 out of 5 stars

Exquisite narration!

By
Johanna
on
11-13-15

Publisher's Summary

Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned 30, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want: a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.

To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world, all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the 23 happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way, unexpectedly.

An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

Story

Witty and Wonderful

I'm writing my first review because I'm appalled that I nearly didn't order this because of some weak reviews on this site, but my friend's persistent recommendation won me over--fortunately!

Gilbert's book is an intimate look at one person's struggle not to answer life's questions but to put herself on her own journey towards answering them. This true story also bears great universal truths. She wrestles with problems that eventually plague most of us, turning for help to the profound but colorful people she meets along her way, from a teenager in India to a Bali guru (aged somewhere between 77 and 102) to Luca Spaghetti, whose name is no less amusing than his comments.

Gilbert manages to weave in striking metaphors that light up her text. Her description of being visited one night by the personifications of loneliness and sadness, harrassing her like film noir police detectives, is alone worth the price of the book.

The spiritual philosophies Gilbert learns are sprinkled throughout her story without weighing it down but adding a profound dimension that will have you mulling them over long after, and perhaps even incorporating into your own world view.

I'm buying 3 copies for friends and recommending it to everyone else. One friend even sent it to someone she knows in England who's undergoing cancer treatment because I've been so enthusiastic about it.

My big problem is that here in Jerusalem we're waiting for it to be translated--when's that going to happen?

Ultimate Entertainment!

I LOVED this book! I listened to the entire book in 1.5 days. It was much "lighter" that I had expected. While spiritual, this book addressed faith and spirituality as deeply personal issues, yet from a perspective that was never oppressive or overdone. Gilbert's descriptions were detailed and revealing and she gave a perfectly balanced degree of depth.

Her light style (both in her writing and her reading) presents some very serious topics in such a way that they are addressed with care and respect. Although it is not possible for me to set out on such an adventure of self-discovery and self-appreciation, I got enough vicarious pleasure from this book to make up for it, at least for a while.

You don't have to be on any personal quest for clarity or self-actualization in order to appreicate this book, but if you read/listen to it, you may find yourself on such a journey. If nothing else, you'll get plenty of laughs!

Better than I expected

I didn't know exactly what to expect but, I was pleasantly surprised. It is actually narrated BY the author herself, and the narration is one of the best I have ever heard. She is really good! She doesn't sound like she is reading at all, but having a conversation with you, or telling a story from memory. She is a smart and witty writer/storyteller. I have heard the complaints about the "me me me" attitude of the book...but come on, it IS a memoir after all. That said, I enjoyed the book, and I don't generally read memoirs. I would recommend this book to a friend.

An Inner Journey within an External One

I'd already read this book in hardback before buying the audiobook (I loved it that much), and discovered that Elizabeth Gilbert's reading of her own memoir revealed new depth, humor, and poignancy.

(Please permit this technical note: If I could have, I would've deducted half a star from my rating on the grounds that Gilbert's voice is low and husky. I listened to this book mostly in my car, and at times her husky voice dropped so low that the reading becomes muffled or inaudible -- or maybe that's just how loud my car is! It is occasionally distracting, but not overly so.)

This "travel" book is actually a tale of Gilbert's stripping away of the obstacles and existential plaque that had suffocated her carefully, but not thoughtfully, constructed life as a wife in the 'burbs. She treats the subject of her awakening and healing with great honesty, self-effacing humor, and a tremendous degree of likability. (I found myself wishing that she lived around the block, just because it would be so much fun to share an evening and a bottle of wine with her.)

Gilbert's description of living (and eating) in Italy for 4 months, then spending 4 months in a Yoga ashram in India, then topping it off with 4 months in Indonesia do capture her environments, and the surrounding cultures. But this is not, strictly speaking, a "travel" book. You aren't going to hear as much about how Italians work as you are about how Liz Gilbert works (but it's hardly a loss). Be prepared to follow the thread of her self-discovery through a combination of woolgathering and self-reflection; be prepared to learn about the spiritual path of her Guru, which Gilbert follows and explains at length in the book's middle section. And get ready to laugh out loud!

In summary, this book will long remain on my list of "Five books I would take with me if I had to live on a deserted island." I hope that others find it as enlightening and inspiring as I did.

Get a grip

Overall, I'd say that if you're a strong independent person, don't bother reading. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't finish the book. Listening to her complain about her life and her first world problems was maddening. Listening to her describe food just made me hungry. Ha!

Eat, Pray for the ending and Love when it's over

For a book that is searching for everything, I unfortunately, found nothing. Shallow and cotton candy
sweet. Elizabeth Gilbert doesn't have a clue. Still can't believe this book has such a high star rating. This is suppose to be nonfiction! I guess like the reality shows today are nonfiction. Total waste of time and an Audible credit.

Self Absorptive Tripe

The extent of this woman’s self absorption is astonishing. Spending a year contemplating your navel is a luxury not many could afford or stomach. By the end of the book there isn’t much doubt that the most important person in her life is herself. I think an author reading their book allows for the reader to get the truest vision of the story they are telling, but I found Gilbert to be very unlikable and too much like a spoiled adolescent.

Just loved this book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. I see some of these critical reviews and I can't understand what these readers difficulties are. I found this book to be a complete delight and Elizabeth Gilbert to be an introspective, inspirational woman and whose prose I admire tremendously. She made me laugh out loud over and over again and I so enjoyed her sharing her insights with such honesty and clarity that I am in awe. She makes a great case for being exactly who we are, making peace with ourselves, seeing the divine in ourselves. She inspires me to do the same.

A must listen!

This is a fabulous audibook - you won't want it to end! I commend the author for sharing her struggle with depression, and how she reclaimed her life through meditation and the interesting people she met during her travels. This book has history, humor, and hope. It's a wonderful journey that is not to be missed.